Veloz Trips Up Dancing Machine, Throws Wrench Into Comeback

PHILADELPHIA — The way it was supposed to go down, Johnny ''Dancing Machine'' Carter was going to run rings around the lead-footed Juan Veloz and then dance on to the next stop on the comeback trail.

Carter, a South Philadelphia journeyman, had won seven of his last eight fights and seemed poised to move from his No. 17 ranking into the top 10 with a few key fights.

But the 10-round super bantamweight (122 pounds) main event at the Blue Horizon in Philadelphia on Wednesday night apparently was not key enough for Carter. He got out of the starting gate fast enough but still sputtered to a second-place finish against a guy whose tank held only slightly more fuel than his.

But if the decision broke Carter's comeback momentum, it did almost nothing for the New Yorker. Veloz, 25, had not had a fight in 17 months, and the ring rust showed.

Gregory Benitez, Veloz's trainer and father of three-time world champion Wilfred Benitez, blamed his fighter's lack of conditioning on the long layoff. Benitez, translating for Veloz, admitted he was ''surprised'' to get such a close decision from what he thought would be hometown judges.

''I was surprised because I knew it was close,'' Benitez said. ''But these are good fight people. I watched some of the earlier decisions, and they were all right.

''We would have finished him if Veloz had been in condition. But he didn't fight for a year, and he couldn't get his wind. But we're going back into the gym now.''

Carter, 28, said he also will return to the gym and try to pull it back together before giving it another try.

''It's back to the drawing board for me,'' Carter said. ''I really don't know what is next. I just have to start again.

''I really thought I outboxed him, but the judges didn't agree. My corner told me I needed to get out there and box for the last two rounds. That's what I did. But the judges saw it differently.

''The main thing is that he was too big. He weighed in a pound heavy thus drawing a $100 fine for failing to make weight. By the time he ate a big meal, he must have been a junior lightweight 130 pounds.

''I can't keep fighting these big guys. Bob Foster was the greatest light- heavyweight of all. But he got beat up every time he moved up in weight. That's what this was.''

Carter said he kept hearing that Veloz was rusty and drained from staying in the sauna all day to make weight. But Carter said he knew enough about Veloz to know it was going to be a tough fight.

''I don't know if they brought me in here to win or lose,'' Carter said. ''I sparred this guy in 1982. I knew he was good.''

In the second round, Veloz was barely good enough to weather his first storm of the night. Carter, whose early offense featured a lot of leaping, lunging roundhouse attempts, connected with a lunging right hand that momentarily stunned Veloz.

Veloz was neither quick nor clever. But he somehow managed to catch up with the fleet-footed Carter before Carter could back up enough to find the punching room he needed to finish the job.

Carter said he might have been able to finish Veloz at that point, but he decided to be careful because he was not sure Veloz was ready to go.

''It may have looked like he was ready to go,'' Carter said. ''But I didn't want to rush in there and get caught with something.''

He might have been right. Carter returned to the attack in the third round, landing even more punishing blows than he had in the previous round. But Veloz handled the pressure and the punches without a problem.

After that, it started to turn around. Carter still was the slicker of the two, but he was beginning to slow down. By the fifth, Veloz was beginning to back Carter up even though his punches did not seem to take that great a toll. Even in the rounds he won after the middle of the fight, Carter often found himself with his back to the ropes, trying to counterpunch and save his tiring legs. He pulled out the last two rounds, but it was too little, too late.

On the undercard, Hugh ''Buttons'' Kearney ran his record to 12-0 with a unanimous decision over Marvin McDowell (7-5) in an eight-round welterweight bout in which Kearney's Pennsylvania state title was on the line. Kearney gave his career a boost with an exciting performance, abandoning his usual flashy boxing style and stepping right to the slow-footed McDowell.